Hmmm, chillin like a villain. Does anyone still say that? I guess I do.

Currently watching the NBA Draft Special on ESPN2. I seriously love Jay Bilas. Ok fine, I love Duke. Worse than that, I love Duke because of J.J. Redick. *ducking* Say what you will about J.J. and I’ve heard it all, but he was an assassin in his time. No, not an asshole - an assassin. See, I can read your mind. Scary huh? Everybody (save a few Crazies) hates Duke, I get that, but I’m not everybody. I could care less how unpopular my sports teams are. You can’t be a Patriots fan and be thin skinned.

Random thoughts… –I can’t get enough of this Shaq diss rap crap. It’s incredibly entertaining. Oh and ps, but I hope Kobe (or anyone else) doesn’t ever find out how Shaq’s ass tastes. Ewww. I guess I shouldn’t judge. Maybe you’re into that sort of thing. –Justin Masterson is impressive. The Sox have a great farm system. –I miss the NBA already. Thank goodness for draft coverage. The off-season is going to kill me though. Especially since I don’t even get NBA-TV. What kind of god-awful digital cable includes the NFL Network and doesn’t offer NBA-TV? Mine! Boo! –This may have been said already, but is it just me or does Bulls head coach Vinny del Negro bear a striking resemblance to Luke Wilson? –Update, Red Sox pull out a win against the Diamondbacks! Hot damn! Happy Jerry Remy Night to all!

Gah. While I’m a big Red Sox fan, I’m not much of a baseball fan per se. I have a picture of myself from when I was ten taken at Fenway in front of a group of players. I’m pretty sure that was the last time I was actually at Fenway Park in person. Since then, I’ve watched periodically on television depending on what time of the year it is. Anyway, yesterday’s game was apeshit. 13 innings? Thanks be to Youk for the put-us-out-of-our-misery homer. I thought that game would never end. It was like slooooow torture. The game the day before was worse though. Dice-K couldn’t even get out of the 2nd inning. Sweet baby jesus.

Shaq’s diss rap at Kobe… Wowwww. Just wow. Expect the Mamba to drop 100 points on the Suns next season. I am so not exaggerating either. Expect like a 100 point game. I would imagine he’s that pissed. I used to be on Shaq’s “side” in his beef with Kobe, but I lost respect for him this past season when he threw his D-League team members from Miami under the bus. I’m still pretty annoyed that he’s stinking up the Suns roster with his presence because I love the Suns. Now I have to say, “…the Suns who I love, oh except for Shaq.” Blah.

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Celtics! NBA Champions! I was up until 2:00am watching interviews on the New England sports channel. A few thoughts.

1. KG is nuts. Certifiably insane. I LOVE that about him!
2. Paul Pierce definitely deserved the MVP finals award. He was terrific.
3. What was up with Lamar Odom poking people in the eye? The Three Stooges called, they want their schtick back.

more to come… off to a meeting right now.. damn work!

Update: Ok finally phew. I think it’s incredibly selfish of my employers to expect me to manage their websites all day rather than updating my own blog. Sheesh.  More thoughts…

4. It really bugged me that so many people picked the Lakers and didn’t believe in the Celtics, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. If you didn’t watch every game all season like I did and you were just going by the Hawks and Cavs series, I guess you would have to question whether the C’s could get it done.

5. I’m not surprised that some people are complaining about the Celtics running up the score. Being a Patriots fan, I’m used to hearing that. All I have to say about that is that whining about it is weak. If your team doesn’t want to get embarrassed then they should play better. They didn’t even defend Tony Allen and Glen Davis at the end of the game. It was the Lakers who decided to just stop playing… so they deserve the lopsided score they got.

6. I’m going to miss all the drama of the NBA during the off-season. This has been the best season for me as a fan since I started following the NBA full-time. I’m going to miss reading all my favorite basketball blogs (presuming they take a hiatus), I already miss my Pistons podcasts (don’t ask, I can’t help it that they’re my second favorite team), and most of all, I’m going to miss The Basketball Jones podcast. I got used to checking for those every day around 10-ish EST and usually by the time my first meetings of the day were out, there would be a nice ep. waiting. *sigh*

7. I will keep blogging during the off-season, but now I will have to switch to Red Sox, Patriots and reality TV. Maybe I’ll cover the Tila Tequila finale if I can gather up my energy.

I hate to lend credence to ridiculous statements, but what the hell, I’m feeling kippy tonight. Where does Peter Vecsey get off saying Garnett isn’t a franchise player? Is he kidding me? Also, note to Ron Artest, you might not want to mention puppies to make your point when you have police records for animal abuse. I guess I’m not too surprised that Ron-Ron is supporting the Lakers. He is after all the guy who recently interviewed Kobe and was so fawning about it that I actually half expected him to get down on his knees and offer the Mamba a nice long blowjob.

Fake Franchise Player? Bitch, please.

Go Celtics! Beat LA!

Oh Josh Beckett, how I love thee… He looks so funny with a bat in his hands. I forgot we were interleague-ing it today and thought I was seeing things. The first time up, he wasn’t really trying all that hard and started to walk off after strike two. They had to call him back to the plate. Then he hit it right to the pitcher. The next time up, he bunted it right to the pitcher. Earlier the Sox hit a bunch of homers off Homer Bailey and now they’re up 9-zip. Is it just me or is that park really easy to hit home runs in? It isn’t every day that Coco Crisp hits home runs two games in a row. No offense to Coco, but this must be the shallowest park ever.

So tonight’s the night… we make history… honey you and I. Well, maybe. I guess we’ll find out if Kobe Bryant really can “take over any time I want” or if KG’s “we not me” philosophy will win out. It was interesting this morning watching the pre-game coverage on ESPN. Bill Walton made a comment about how Kobe and Phil Jackson blame the rest of the team and constantly say they’re not good enough and how that must negatively effect their psyches. I couldn’t agree more. Bill & I are pretty decent arm chair shrinks if you ask me…

Sweet mother of shamrocks and all that are holy! That will teach me to blog before the game is over. Who could’ve predicted a comeback like that though? I have all the belief in the world in the C’s talent, but there is no way on god’s green earth I ever thought they would be able to overcome a 24-point deficit. Hot damn! Now I’m in a quandry, if I stick with my Celtics in 7 prediction, I’d be essentially saying that the Lakers will win one in Boston and I just flat out do not see that happening. But, I absolutely despise waffling, so I guess I’m just going to have to stick with my original prediction. As long as the Celtics win the championship, I’ll be happy to be wrong.

Kobe looked a little pissed after the game.  During his press conference, all I could think about was Bill Russell’s interview with KG. He told KG that he was going to have to put his arms around his teammates and guide them to a championship… it wouldn’t work to try and drag them there. Something Kobe will never understand. You can have all the fight and desire and be the best player on the planet, but your teammates have to be guided along the way and not yanked, bullied, and chided.

It’s not over. I expect the Lakers to come out swinging for their lives on Sunday. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I hope Spike shows up again. He’s apparently a good luck charm.

Yeah I know tonight is a trainwreck. Stop gawking. Nothing to see here. Move along, move along. Remember, I picked the Celtics in 7… which means I expected this. How could any sane person not expect it after Atlanta and Cleveland? Sure, I’ll admit it, beating the Pistons a little early got my hopes up just a smidge… but not enough where I really expected the series to not go to a 7th game. I’m not going to get all worked up about anything until we go back to Boston. If the Lakers show up to play there, then maybe I’ll sweat a little. I don’t respect the Lakers like I respect Detroit, so its hard for me to say I’ll be happy regardless of the outcome. I think the Celtics are a better team and I’m always going to think that no matter how the playoffs turn out. ESPN and about 90% of the blogosphere are swinging on the Lakers nuts, so I’ve quickly grown tired of listening to and reading all that horseshit. If I honestly believed Kobe was the second coming of Jesus H. Christ in basketball shoes, I’d be happy to admit, but I don’t. He’s the best individual player in the league, yes. But, he’s not the best leader or the best teammate. He’ll always be selfish, arrogant and loyal to only himself. I’ll be surprised if that doesn’t come into play here before all is said and done. I can admit though that I’m biased and it probably is clouding my judgement somewhat. I keep hearing this garrish clown voice coming from a hollow cave… “What would I say in response (to Curt Schilling)? Go Yankees.” Oh no you didn’t. Bitch, please.

Yo Phile, I mean Phil… It’s Lee-on P-oh as in P-oh-tent threat in the P-aint. The refs aren’t your problem, the problem is that you have only a few mentally tough players on your team. Kobe, Derek Fisher, and… I guess you only have two. Good luck with that.

Game 3 went exactly how I expected it to. No shock. No awe. I even yawned several times.

I’m sorry to say I’ve had to bail out on both of my favorite basketball sites/podcasts and live blogs because of the obvious Laker leanings. I can’t listen to it. It’s my fatal flaw. Boston is apparently only popular if you live in New England. I guess its better that way anyway. Only my own kind would understand the kind of sublime cackle I let out on my drive home from work when I heard the Giants superbowl rings were stolen in a vault somewhere in Massachusetts. Aw, good times, good times. Only a fellow New Englander would scream PAPELBON!!!!!!!!!!! when he bounded out to the mound tonight to save the game against the Orioles (whereas the rest of the sports world probably thinks of him as the jig-dancing spazz in the spandex shorts.) And finally, yes, only a fellow New Englander would pee Shamrock green year-round and not just on a certain holiday in March.

Go Celtics! Beat LA!

1. I meant to blog yesterday, but didn’t get a chance to. I’m picking Celtics in 7.
2. I hope everyone who has been picking the Lakers before the series started stays with their picks. There is nothing worse than a waffler. If I pick the Celtics and they don’t get it done, then so be it. I’m not going to go swinging back and forth depending on which way the wind is blowing.
3. Paul Pierce did not fake his injury a la WWE. That’s a ridiculous notion. Anyone who thinks that is giving him way too much credit in terms of his acting chops. Jesus is the actor, remember?
4. I fully expect the Lakers to come back in Game 2 and either win or give the C’s a serious scare. The script is written that way.
5. Next game I’m going to have to avoid getting tied up watching the Red Sox. The Rays game was such a wacky freakshow that I had a hard time tearing myself away to focus on the “Drive for 17″.

This is my evening… plus trying to follow the game on TV.

http://www.tnt.tv/sports/nba/playoffs08_live/

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/BDL-Live-Blog-Spurs-at-Lakers-Game-5?urn=nba,85100